Product description

To practice effectively, midwives need to continually update their knowledge of pregnancy and birth. This fully revised and updated new edition of The Midwife's Labour and Birth Handbook is a practical and accessible guide to providing midwifery care while promoting 'women-centred' care and normality. It explores important questions such as: Why are women not encouraged to make a birth plan for elective CS? If a VBAC woman declines continuous CTG monitoring then why shouldn't she use a waterbirth pool? If shoulder dystocia is anticipated, why not encourage all-fours birth in preference to a semi-recumbent position? Why are the needs of the delivering professional so often put before the advantages of upright postures for promoting descent of a second twin? This new edition incorporates the latest research and national guidelines, and includes new chapters on twins, caesarean section, bullying, risk management and IOL. By bringing together the latest midwifery information in a woman-centred way, The Midwife's Labour and Birth Handbook is an essential guide for both student midwives and experienced practising midwives.

Author information

Vicky Chapman is a registered nurse and midwife. As a midwife Vicky has worked in a variety of hospitals and in the community setting. She believes that more women deserve supportive midwifery care that is evidence based and sensitive to their needs, as well as a genuine choice regarding place of birth. She is a mother of four children, including twins. Cathy Charles is a registered nurse and midwife. She has been a practising midwife since 1991 and a ventouse practitioner since 1998 and has worked as both a consultant unit midwife and a community unit midwife. She was formerly clinical audit & risk management co-ordinator and a supervisor of midwives and has lectured at various universities on risk management, midwifery practice and community based maternity care.

Review quote

FROM THE 1ST EDITION: "This is a useful guide for all midwives and a worthwhile text to have on the shelves in the labour room. It book promotes midwifery practice in both normal birth and where complex situations occur. Each chapter has a standard approach, making it an easy reference guide." Review by: Julia Magill-Cuerden, principal lecturer, Thames Valley University. Review published in Intermid.co.uk: the online archive of peer-reviewed midwifery articles

Back cover copy

To practice effectively, midwives need to continually update their knowledge of pregnancy and birth. This fully revised and updated new edition of "The Midwife's Labour and Birth Handbook" is a practical and accessible guide to providing midwifery care while promoting 'women-centred' care and normality. It explores important questions such as:
Why are women not encouraged to make a birth plan for elective CS?
If a VBAC woman declines continuous CTG monitoring then why shouldn't she use a waterbirth pool?
If shoulder dystocia is anticipated, why not encourage all-fours birth in preference to a semi-recumbent position?
Why are the needs of the delivering professional so often put before the advantages of upright postures for promoting descent of a second twin?
This new edition incorporates the latest research and national guidelines, and includes new chapters on twins, caesarean section, bullying, risk management and IOL. By bringing together the latest midwifery information in a woman-centred way, "The Midwife's Labour and Birth Handbook" is an essential guide for both student midwives and experienced practising midwives.